New Zealand batsman Tom Latham revealed on Thursday that the visitors are completely focussed on preparing well to face India's "quality" spin attack ahead of the upcoming ODI series, starting 22 October in Mumbai.
The 25-year-old, who smashed a match-winning ton during New Zealand's practice match against Indian Board President's XI on Thursday, said Kane Williamson's men have been analysing footage of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal's bowling and that they have also benefited from facing the likes of Karn Sharma and other spinners during the two practice matches.
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After replacing senior stars R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja in the limited-overs set up, Kuldeep and Chahal have gone on to establish themselves as main threats to opposition teams in the recent past. The two wrist spinners have given captain Virat Kohli the wickets apart from controlling the pace of the game in the middle overs.
Kuldeep and Chahal hurt Australia in the recently-concluded limited-overs series. Steve Smith's men had found it difficult to maintain composure against the young wrist spinners, who picked up 13 wickets between them during India's 4-1 win in the ODI series.
"Playing against a couple of left-armers and the leggie (Karn Sharma) today was an ideal preparation. Whatever we need we can get, stuff from the footage and that sort of things. We obviously know that they (Kuldeep and Chahal) are quality bowlers and they have done really well in the previous series," Latham said during the post-match press conference (Board President's XI vs New Zealand) on Thursday.
He added: "Our focus is big on spin here. We are focussing on facing more spin than seam here and finding ways to score, to hit gaps and find boundaries. That's probably the biggest thing coming over here."
Latham relishing No 5 role
Meanwhile, Latham also warned India, highlighting the big-hitting skills of New Zealand openers Colin Munro and Martin Guptill.
The left-handed opener himself has been in fine form batting at No 5 in the practice matches, scoring 167 runs in two matches. He was also the team's top-scorer (with 244 runs from 5 matches) during India's 3-2 win over the Black Caps last year.
"Having Colin (Munro) at the top can be very destructive and if he and Martin (Guptill) can get going, they can be unstoppable," Latham said.
He added "Yeah it is obviously a little bit of change [batting position] from the last couple of years but that is something we have discussed about. It was nice to have spent some time in the middle and get familiar with the role today [Thursday]."
